The present invention relates to text processing programs for electronic computers, and in particular, to a text processing program that provides symmetric, outlining and tree-diagram text organization modes.
Text documents are a convenient way to share ideas. Text is easily generated and edited using a word processor or the like, and easily communicated or stored in either electronic or paper form.
Unfortunately, the relationship between ideas, as expressed in text alone, is not always clear. To remedy this problem, it is common to impose an outline structure on text documents in which xe2x80x9csubservientxe2x80x9d ideas are placed in paragraphs indented and underneath paragraphs representing xe2x80x9cdominantxe2x80x9d ideas. Each paragraph may be numbered in a way that further illustrates this relationship. By using multiple levels of indenting, outlining allows an arbitrarily complex set of dominant and subservient text elements to be represented. The outlining process is supported by many word processors which allow the user to switch between an outline mode and a standard text mode and which automate the process of numbering outlined paragraphs.
Outlining is nevertheless limited in its ability to convey complex relationships between ideas. When many ideas are presented, related dominant ideas are often separated by many subservient ideas with the result that the relationship between the dominant ideas is obscured. Further, the indentation of paragraphs (or numbering) provides little additional information about the relationship between ideas beyond the relatively general relationships of dominance and subservience. Finally, the outlining process in itself provides little guidance to the user in organizing text or in generating ideas.
What is needed is a text-processing tool that provides a more flexible method of organizing ideas and revealing the relationship between ideas and which promotes good organizational structure.
The present invention provides a computer tool to assist a user in developing and organizing ideas. Operating in either a text outline mode or a tree mode, the tool allows numeric priorities to be attached to ideas of a common level in either the outline or tree and redraws the outline or tree to comport with those priorities. A convenient user interface is provided to allow these priorities to be easily established. The invention further provides templates to prompt the users in exploring their ideas. The user creates levels of xe2x80x9cissuesxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cpositionsxe2x80x9d, and argumentsxe2x80x9d. Open-ended challenges are provided at the issue and position levels to help the user explore positions in response to issues, and arguments in response to positions. Such templates may be developed by experts to guide the user in particular fields of inquiry.
Specifically, the present invention provides a program for the organization of ideas using an electronic computer, the electronic computer having a user input device and a graphics display. The program comprising instructions is executed on the electronic computer to accept text identified ideas from the user via the user input device and to accept (at least one) idea hierarchy instructions from the user via the user input device, the hierarchy instructions relating the accepted ideas in dependencies. The program then displays representations of the ideas on the graphic display as organized into levels defined by common dependency. Numeric priorities for the ideas of at least one level may be accepted from the user causing the ideas of the at least one level on the graphic display (for example in a text outline) to be arranged according to the priorities when it is redisplayed.
Thus it is one object of the invention to improve the representation of dependent ideas through the introduction of level priorities such as promote more important ideas to positions of visual dominance.
The displayed representation of the ideas may be as text displayed in a text outline according to the dependencies of ideas associated with the text, the text outline including paragraphs arranged beneath other paragraphs on which they depend; and the paragraphs of a level may be ordered according to the priorities of the ideas to which they are related.
Conversely, the displayed representations of the ideas are node symbols arranged in a tree according to their dependencies, the tree structure including branches visually connecting node symbols to other node symbols on which they depend; and the nodes of a level may be ordered according to the priorities of the ideas to which they are related.
Thus it is one object of the invention to provide a tool that allows either a tree or text outline representation of data and thus which allows the user to partake of the strength of each form.
The user may be provided with a list of representations of identified ideas of a level and wherein priorities are assigned by the user by changing the order of the representations of identified ideas within the list. The user may be allowed to change the order of representations of identified ideas (and thus their priority) by selection of a given representation of an identified idea as displayed on the graphics display using the user input device and moving the representations of the identified idea within the list as displayed on the graphic display device using the user input device. Alternatively or in addition a slide control for each identified idea in the list may be displayed that may be manipulated by the user-input device to enter a number priority value.
Thus it is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intuitive and easy to use graphical interface for assigning priorities to objects.
When the representation of an identified idea is moved within the list, the priority of at least one idea identifier may be changed so that the priorities of all identified ideas in the list remain monotonically decreasing. Priorities may be similarly adjusted when the sliders are moved to preserve monotonicity of priorities.
Thus it is another object of the invention to allow free adjustment of priorities of one element in the list while maintaining consistency with the priorities of other elements within the list.
The invention may display representations of the ideas on the graphic display as organized into levels defined by common dependency and after acceptance of a given text identified idea from the user in at least one predefined level; prompt the user as to possible additional text identified ideas for inclusion in a next level having ideas dependent on the idea of the given text identified idea. The predefined categories may be are ISSUE, POSITION and ARGUMENT and the user is prompted with possible ARGUMENTS when the given text identified idea is a POSITION and the user may be prompted with possible POSITIONS when the given text identified idea is an ISSUE. The user may be prompted with a set of open-ended questions that may be augmented by text from the identified ideas of the given position.
Thus it is another object of the invention to provide a tool not only for organizing ideas but one that assist the user in exploring the boundaries of the ideas.
Further, the user may select from a set of predefined generic identified ideas and hierarchies and to provide an editor for editing the predefined generic identified ideas and hierarchies.
Thus it is another object of the invention to communicate to the user the experience of experts in the field that may be applied to the problems being analyzed by the user. This expertise may be conveyed in xe2x80x9cskeletalxe2x80x9d ideas and hierarchies or in the prompts described above.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In this description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment and its particular objects and advantages do not define the scope of the invention, however, and reference must be made therefore to the claims for interpreting the scope of the invention.